Month: February 2020

EU leaders made no headway on Thursday in fractious talks on a joint 2021-27 budget that was left with a 75 billion euro (62.9 billion pounds) hole after Britain’s departure at a time when they face costly new challenges from climate change to migration. The joint budget is the most tangible expression of the European Union’s priorities over the next seven years - and its member states’ willingness to stump […]

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels this week to discuss the bloc's future budget plans. These negotiations are always challenging, tending to pit net payers against net beneficiaries. There are proposals from the European Commission and the Parliament that some countries think involve spending too much. This time, the talks are further complicated by the departure of the UK, which was a large net contributor. The talks are about the […]

China is ready to restart preparatory work with British officials on a future trade deal after a feasibility study was quietly paused last year during the Brexit deadlock, a top diplomat has said. Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to London, said it may take time before the two sides have detailed discussions as his country focuses on battling the coronavirus and Britain's newly-elected government settles in. But he told Sky News the […]

A demand for the return of "unlawfully removed cultural objects" has been included in the EU's negotiating mandate for trade talks with the UK - prompting claims Britain will be held to ransom over the Elgin Marbles. The British Museum has long refused to return the 2,500-year-old artefacts to Greece, which the country says were stolen from them by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when it was under […]